Early predictions suggest that ABC's three-hour broadcast drew 39.3 million viewers, compared to 37.9 million for Anne Hathaway and James Franco's widely derided tenure in 2011. However, it appears likely that viewers were older than for last year's event, reflecting 63-year-old Crystal's veteran status. Nevertheless, ABC said it was the second-largest TV audience for the Academy Awards since 2007 and pointed out that the show retained all of its 2011 audience in the coveted 18-49 year-old age group.

Crystal's performance as host has come in for criticism, with many commentators labelling it safe and bland. Controversy, in particular, continues to rage over the comic's decision to appear in blackface as Hollywood legend Sammy Davis Jr in his traditional opening montage. The "character" was a staple of Crystal's Saturday Night Live appearances in the 1980s but many were shocked to see it reappear and there was fierce criticism on Twitter.

"Octavia Spencer's win shows just how far we've come since Billy Crystal performed in blackface," said US comic Paul Scheer, referencing the actor's victory for her performance in The Help, which is set against the backdrop of the civil rights era in 1960s America.

Colorlines.com, a US site that comments on issues of racial justice, tweeted simply: "And the Oscar for Most Racist Host Goes to Billy Crystal in Blackface?"

"As if it wasn't bad enough seeing a white man donning blackface in the 21st century, the montage rammed the point home by cutting to scenes from The Help," wrote the Guardian's Sarah Hughes of Crystal's performance. "Nor was that the only racially-tinged moment. After Octavia Spencer won best supporting actress, Crystal made a joke about hugging black women in Beverly Hills that was both unpleasant and so old it would have sounded stale in 1939 when Hattie McDaniel won for that other piece of Southern apologia, Gone With the Wind."

The 2012 Oscars proved a social media hit, however. Of the night's winners, best actress Meryl Streep and best actor Jean Dujardin attracted the most mentions, while Angelina Jolie's leg-thrusting moment while presenting an award also proved popular. A Twitter account with the handle "angiesrightleg" had 26,000 followers at time of writing.

Xan Brooks: You've clocked how your choices matched up with ours, other readers' and those of the Oscar voters. And you may have noticed one or two of our stories about the awards. Now tell us how we can do better next year